Less than 1 year ago @findingkels was cleaning houses (even our podcast studio!) 🧼
Today over half a million people listen to her on Spotify every month 📈
What changed?
She stopped waiting for the algorithm to make her big enough to tour, and went on the road anyway to BECOME big enough.
150 shows in 2 years. No label, no booking agent, no big budget. Just a Stripe link, a @peerspace rental, and a willingness to play to very small crowds.
Swipe for 7 DIY touring rules you can steal from her: pre-sell before booking the venue, hire local bands instead of a touring crew, own the email list, and more.
Comment TOUR and we’ll DM you the episode. Or find it on YouTube + all podcast platforms. 🔗
Most artists don’t start touring until they’re “big enough”.
@findingkels went on the road to BECOME big enough.
Instead of waiting on a label, booking agent, viral moment, or perfect opportunity, she started building her fanbase in real life, city by city.
And it’s working.
In just the last few months, she went from around 30K monthly listeners to over 500K. From under 100K IG followers to over 450K.
She’s building real demand through secret shows, unconventional venues, direct fan support, and a level of consistency most artists only talk about.
In this episode we broke down:
🔂 how she built her own DIY touring model
🔂 how she decides what cities to play
🔂 how pay-what-you-want tickets and the +1 model work
🔂 why owning fan data matters
🔂 how live performance became content
🔂 how she turned “dirty blues” into a real artist brand
🔂 why she kept pushing “Gone” long after most artists would’ve moved on
🔂 how to make fans feel like they’re part of something
This is not an artist looking back and reflecting at their long journey after reaching peak heights.
This is an independent artist in the middle of the climb, proving that momentum can be built before everything looks “perfect”.
Grab a notebook because this one is LOADED with game 💎
Comment “WATCH” and we’ll DM you the episode 📥
Powered by @distrokid 🔋
Am I lucky or did I start a cleaning business to fund my music career, play my music on the street all over the US for 3 years and post my songs 6 times per day every day? I’ll never forget what it took to get here and I’m just getting started.
